Changed the oil today, and I'm so glad I did!!!

I was running Motul 8100 5w-30. The oil had under 2 months and around 1500 miles on it. It drained out like black water. Not good.

Not sure if the injection system did it, or if 5w-30 is too thin for my setup. I saved a quart which I intend to send in for analysis. Regardless, I hope nothing is broken.

At CoolRex's recommendation, I switched over to Shell Rotella T 5w-40. I hope this holds up better than the Motul did.

 

yeah, that oil didnt look good at all...wonder what the cause was?

 

Black water...no good!!!

Keep us posted about how the analysis turns out!

My last oil change I ran RP 10w30 and it seemed to hold up well over 3k miles and since I had 2 oil changes worth Im running it again. I was considering Motul...but now...not so much

 

Motul may not be the problem. It could be a great oil for most cars. However, it might not be the appropriate oil if you are pushing 27psi with meth and water injection.

 

the weight of the oil not too thin if you are not doing track days every weekend, I would look into more of the composition of the oil of different brands than weights (as long as they are above 30 when warm).

What did you previous oil look like, shouldn't it turn black as the oil is absorbing all the sludge etc.

 

The color was expected. What bothered me was that it appeared to have lost all viscosity. It was watery to the touch. Even Bob (tech) commented that it looked much thinner than expected.

 

maybe the methanol is not atomizing like it should, oil is usually watery to the touch when warm did you look at it again when cold? I suppose an oil analysis would tell. If you are find out you are spraying too much methanol for it to vaporize completely, maybe a smaller nozzle will do but this is speculation, keep us posted and good luck.

 

The oil seemed watery when cold too.

I am using an M10 nozzle. I believe this is standard for STi kits. If it didn't atomize completely, wouldn't the car run really rich?

The meth+water mixture may also be a cause. However, there didn't appear to be any water droplets in the collected oil.

I would like to see what the Rotella looks like after 1500 miles. The oil analysis would tell a lot.

 

Oil is supposed to be black after its used as it is holding all the crap from your engine in a suspension. If it wasn't all black, then that means all that same crap is still in the engine.

Of course it could be black and have broken down already, which is no good.

Looking forward to the Oil Analysis

 

I must add information.

With both WRX's and previous cars I have used Motul 8100 5w30 in...I have always gone 5,000 miles between changes unless there was a full roadcourse track day involved...which I changed right after that day, or before the day if I had more than 3k on the oil.

After 5,000 miles, each oil change was done with the engine blistering hot (aka operational temp).

The oil came out very unwatery like. It came out as if you were pouring the new oil out at 120*F.

Color? Dark...but not black. I'd say it had another 2~3k miles before it was completely black.

Consistency? SLICK still. Not like Mobil 1 and others that you can feel straight thru to the ridges on your finger. The Motul was still slick and you had to really apply pressure to get past the oil to the texture of your finger.


This holds true to other cars (WRX, STi, others) that run Motul with various mods. However, none of those were Meth/Water injection cars.

It is possible, and 100% likely that methanol use severely degrades oil performance over time.

Water injection not so much...but gains with water are not as good as meth.

 

I have been running meth for a long time and my oil never sounds as bad as what Milo is describing. I try to change it every 4k but sometimes I go a little longer. Between oil changes I rarely have to add more than a combined half quart.


Of course I never use synthetic so maybe the issues with meth is something specific to synthetics.

 

+1 for blackstone labs oil analysis. I'm waiting on a test kit to see how My Redline 10w40 has held up over 3K miles of abuse (one autocross but more 8K rpm events than I can count). I'm swapping in Euro Castrol 0w30 for the winter but once temps get warm I'm going to swap back in some 40wt, definately going to do an oil analysis on it as well. The motor just seems very rough on cold starts with the 10wt cold.

I've been saying it for 3 months, I'm not convinced 30wt oil is good for these motors if you're working the motor over for long times. For me that involves most highway cruising at 4K rpms for 30mins at a time. In a perfect world all 30wt would act the same, I'm not on as much of an anti Mobil 1 soapbox as I used to be in that regard but there are better alternatives.

Meth injection could be another possibility . . . i'm not running, nor will i ever run that. Nitrous perhaps someday instead . . .

 

****Prepare yourself for Matt's super opinionated answer*****

TAKE THE FUCKING METHANOL KIT OFF THAT CAR BEFORE IT BLOWS UP

My oil looked like that once....when the motor stopped working.

Matt

 

*earth tilts off axis*

I agree.

 

I was waiting for you to chime in

I don't think I'll take the methanol kit off completely. However, i will switch to my pump map after:

(1) I get dyno'd next week (I would like to see how much, if any, I gained after swapping exhausts)
(2) I see how the Rotella reacts to the injection system

I'll probably keep the meth system for occasional fun but won't be running it all the time.

By the way, do you remember what kind of oil you were running at that time?

 

Redline 50wt raceoil

 

stand by folks.I'm also running motul 5w30 and my monthly oil change is going to be here in just a few days. my car is completely stock so we'll see what it looks like!

 

And did that happen at one lap?

 

Methanol= Oil Viscosity death

C16>Meth

 

Thanks! Yeah I am about 1800 miles on my Motul 5w30. My motor is not stock, but no Meth. I will keep an eye on how how yours looked during the oil change!

 

damn, that's not good milo, hope the motor is okay... def get a blackstone test and let us know.

i just did my oil change last weekend, but since i had the pcv thing i did a "mid-change" to make sure the level was correct. I'll have a full 3k report done by blackstone for the next change.

the 2k that was on the prev oil was dirty but not black, and still very slick.

 

change your oil often and maybe use a heavier grade, methanol is too attractive to give up...

P.S. with use of methanol my oil is not as bad as Milo describes as well

 

What oil are you using?

 

German Castrol 0w-30 and barely burns any oil

I plan to try this in the future since this is the oil that holds the most steady oil pressure according to someone with a built AR Fab block.


available at Amazon: Link

 

wow its cheaper than motul 8100

 

** double post **

 

With that, I am assuming you will have to spend more time warming up.

 

maybe, but oil heats up very quickly so that's not a major concern, it's how fast does it build oil pressure and how steady would it hold in different conditions is what I'm curious about

 

Not unless you are running piss for oil.

Motul and anything thicker takes more time to heat up. On an average day it takes the 8100 5~10 minutes to come to full temp when driving at a reduced pace. Idle only it takes 15~20 minutes.

Thats starting at 75*F to 95*F, engine cold after an overnight sit.

From 20*F...20 minutes at reduced pace, 30~40 at idle.

As for pressure...its ability to control temperature and operate in extreme temperatures allows it to 'hold pressure'.

Mobil 1 is piss after 220~240*F and therefore has no 'pressure' equaling spinning shards of bearing material flying around your engine.

 

50wt is too heavy for the street and honestly its probally too heavy for the track. The bearing clearances etc.... are not setup for that heavy an oil.

Yes I did run it.

 

Gc + Vsot Ftw

its not the weight of the oil, its the cSt at the operating temp that counts
Its not how thin the oil, its how well it shears (or does not)

 

A little browsing around and I found this:
http://news.hspn.com/articles/126/1...f-10W-60--5W-40-STi-Motorsport-Oil/Page1.html

Subaru Technica international released 10W-60 race oil and 5W-40 sports oil. However, I wouldn't put something that heavy in my car until I do more research.

 

now i would def try something sti releases (after someone else does a guinea pig run of course lol)

edit: where the hell do you buy something like this?

 

I'm assuming you are referring to the 10w-60 as the Rotella you are using is 5w-40.

I've NEVER had an oil issue on my car. Also I have a M7 meth nozzle so that may be the reason but my oil is identical to my pump gas only oil. I've had analysis' on both and they looked the same.

 

Yup

 

Those part numbers are not in the US system yet...but they should be soon. THEY BETTER NOT SHOW UP LIKE THIS: 'NOT FOR DEALER USE' otherwise I'll kick someone's head in.

If the oil temps were getting to 280*F~310*F the 10w60 would work great.

Those w/out oil coolers and track the car...should use it. Otherwise, with a REAL oil cooler...5 or 10 or 15w40 should work fine.

IBslowwrxdisagrees

 

5w-40 seems like the perfect weight on paper. E46 M3 uses a special blend 5w-40 from BMW and too bad they do not sell it.

Shell Rotella T 5w-40, is that motorcycle oil or does it come with different varities?

 

on paper and real life are two different things and usually they dont work out.

 

It's oil designed for diesel engines. You can get it at Walmart and it comes in a blue can of 4 qts for ~$17. If you get it make sure you do get the Rotella T and not just plain Rotella.

 

cool, and Rotella T is synthetic correct? How do you like it so far

 

I've been using it for ~70,000 miles. It is synthetic and I like it a lot.

 

Also, just switched to Rotella T 5w-40 ...been in for about 2 weeks now so gotta wait.

 

Milo any update as to if the Rotella helped? Still smoking at take off?

 

Switched from Mobile 1 5w-30 to Motul 5w-30. I have been getting my oil changed every 3,000 - 3,200 miles and this was the first time in almost 2 years my oil was almost all gone in that same mileage range. I noticed my oil pressure was bouncing erractily between 20 and 40 PSI since Wednesday. Now everything looks good, and I got an extra quart in the trunk to keep in case I burn more than what I have been average for the past 2 years. My driving has been the pretty much the same better than 90% of the time.

Has anyone else been consistent in their driving between multiple changes and had one oil change burn a lot more then they average?

 

Glad that everything is squared away for ya bro...

Mark

 

yeah any updates on an analysis milo?

 

Sorry I haven't checked this in a while.

Rotella is holding up good. I am still changing oil every 1500 as I am running meth.

I never ended up sending the oil in for an analysis. Got too tied up with moving.

 

That's good to hear. I cut my Rotella use down from 5000 miles to 3000 miles. Subie is getting up there in mileage now....98,000 on the clock.